U.S. patent application number 11/009986 was filed with the patent office on 2005-06-16 for brake dust cover structure of vehicle.
Invention is credited to Lee, Byung Kyu.
Application Number | 20050126868 11/009986 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34651341 |
Filed Date | 2005-06-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050126868 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee, Byung Kyu |
June 16, 2005 |
Brake dust cover structure of vehicle
Abstract
The brake dust cover structure of a vehicle prevents nearby
components from being thermally damaged by insulating the brake
disk from heat radiation and prevents impurities, such as pieces of
stone, soil or the like, from entering into the brake disk along
with air, thus preventing damage to the brake disk. The present
invention further improves the cooling efficiency of the brake disk
by maximizing the amount of airflow into the brake disk.
Inventors: |
Lee, Byung Kyu; (Whasung,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP (SF)
2 PALO ALTO SQUARE
PALO ALTO
CA
94306
US
|
Family ID: |
34651341 |
Appl. No.: |
11/009986 |
Filed: |
December 10, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
188/218A |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16D 55/00 20130101;
F16D 2055/0037 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
188/218.00A |
International
Class: |
F16D 055/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 10, 2003 |
KR |
2003-0089527 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A brake dust cover structure of a vehicle, the structure
comprising: a cover plate having a partially cut-off configuration
for enclosing a brake disk, wherein said cover plate is formed with
an air inlet toward the front of the vehicle and is fixed to a
knuckle; and a guide part protruding out toward the front and inner
side of the vehicle, wherein said guide part is configured to guide
air from the front of the vehicle to said air inlet.
2. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the upper portion
of said air inlet inclines downwardly toward a central direction of
said cover plate.
3. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide part is
formed with an impurity deflecting part protruding out into a space
formed between said guide part and said cover plate for deflecting
impurities wherein said impurities are entered through said guide
part.
4. The structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said impurity
deflecting part is protrusively formed in a circular shape
configuration.
5. The structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said impurity
deflecting part is protrusively formed in an elliptical shape
configuration.
6. The structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said impurity
deflecting part is protrusively formed in a polygonal shape
configuration.
7. The structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said impurity
deflecting part includes a sloped surface.
8. The structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said guide part
further includes an impurity discharge part having a downwardly
opened groove shape configuration is formed at a lower side of said
guide part.
9. The structure as defined in claim 8, wherein said impurity
discharge part is formed in an elliptical shape configuration.
10. The structure as defined in claim 8, wherein said impurity
discharge part is formed in a polygonal shape configuration.
11. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said cover plate
includes a coupling part where at least one or both of the rear and
upper portions of said air inlet couples with said guide part.
12. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said cover plate
and said guide part are provided with flanges, respectively, and
said cover plate and said guide part couple with each other by said
flanges.
13. A brake dust cover structure of a vehicle, the structure
comprising: a cover plate having a partially cut-off configuration
for enclosing a brake disk, wherein said cover plate is formed with
an air inlet toward the front of the vehicle; a guide part
protruding out toward the front and inner side of the vehicle,
wherein said guide part is configured to guide air from the front
of the vehicle towards said air inlet; an impurity deflecting part
formed coupled to said guide part, where said impurity deflecting
part protrudes out into a space formed between said guide part and
said cover plate for deflecting impurities that enter said guide
part.
14. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein the upper portion
of said air inlet inclines downwardly toward a central direction of
said cover plate.
15. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein said impurity
deflecting part has a shape selected from a group consisting of: a
circular shape, an elliptical shape, a polygonal shape and any
combination of the aforementioned.
16. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein said impurity
deflecting part forms part of said guide part.
17. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein said impurity
deflecting part includes a sloped surface.
18. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein said guide part
further includes an impurity discharge part having a downwardly
opened groove shape configuration is formed at a lower side of said
guide part.
19. The structure as defined in claim 18, wherein said impurity
discharge part has a shape selected from a group consisting of: an
elliptical shape and a polygonal shape configuration.
20. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein said cover plate
includes a coupling part where at least one or both of the rear and
upper portions of said air inlet couples with said guide part.
21. The structure as defined in claim 13, wherein said cover plate
and said guide part are provided with flanges, respectively, and
said cover plate and said guide part couple with each other by said
flanges.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is based on, and claims priority
from, Korean Application Ser. No. 10-2003-0089527, filed on Dec.
10, 2003, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by
reference herein in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a brake dust cover of a
vehicle that is adapted to improve the cooling efficiency of a
brake disk and to prevent impurities from entering into the brake
disk.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Generally, a brake dust cover enclosing a brake disk is
installed to prevent impurities from entering into a brake system.
The brake dust cover prevents impurities from entering into the
brake disk when the impurities enter along with the airflow.
Further, the brake dust cover prevents heat radiation generated
from the brake disk affecting neighboring components, thereby
preventing the components from being damaged by the impurities and
heat.
[0004] However, there is a drawback in the conventional brake
system structure in that the brake dust cover wraps around most of
the brake disk, deteriorating the heat emission of the brake disk
due to the difficulty of air influx therein, and causing
deterioration to the braking function by decreasing the cooling
efficiency of the brake disk.
[0005] In order to improve the cooling efficiency of the brake
disk, a brake dust cover has recently been developed to increase
the air influx between the brake dust cover and brake disk.
However, as the air influx increases in the above described
structure, impurities that enter along with the air influx also
increase. This causes corrosion and abrasion in the brake disk, as
well as unwanted noise.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] An embodiment of the present invention is provided to
improve the cooling efficiency of a brake disk and to prevent
impurities from entering into the brake disk. A brake dust cover of
a vehicle comprises a cover plate having a partially cut-off
configuration for enclosing a brake disk. The cover plate is formed
with an air inlet toward the front of the vehicle and is fixed to a
knuckle. A guide part protrudes out toward the front and inner side
of the vehicle and is configured to guide air from the front of the
vehicle to the air inlet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the
present invention, reference should be made to the following
detailed description with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0008] FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views illustrating a brake
dust cover structure of a vehicle according to a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a rear view of the brake dust cover of a vehicle
of FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a side view of the brake dust cover of a vehicle
of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a brake dust cover of a vehicle
when installed at a knuckle according to an embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0012] FIG. 7 illustrates a view that shows the operation of an
impurity deflecting part.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0013] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, a brake dust cover 110 of a
vehicle according to some embodiments of the present invention
comprises a cover plate 110a and a guide part 110b. The cover plate
110a prevents nearby components from being thermally damaged by
insulating the brake disk 120 from heat radiation. The cover plate
110a also prevents impurities (e.g., pieces of stone, soil or the
like) from entering into the brake disk 120. The guide part 10b
improves the cooling efficiency of the brake disk 120 by maximizing
the amount of airflow into the brake disk 120.
[0014] The cover plate 110a has a partially cut-off configuration.
The middle of the cover plate 110a is formed with a hole 112a
therein. An air inlet 114a is formed at the cover plate 110a toward
the frontal direction of the vehicle for providing air between the
cover plate and brake disk. The upper portion of the air inlet 114a
is configured to be inclined downwardly toward the center of the
cover plate 110a. The cover plate 110a is inserted into a knuckle
through the hole 112a and is coupled to the knuckle via a fixing
part 110c. The brake disk 120 is also coupled to the knuckle from
the exterior toward the inner direction of the vehicle. By way of
reference, the cover plate 110a is configured in a cut-off shape so
as to prevent interference with the caliper and knuckle arm (see
FIG. 5).
[0015] The cover plate 110a prevents nearby components from being
thermally damaged by insulating the brake disk 12 from heat
radiation. The cover plate 110a also prevents impurities such as
pieces of stone, soil or the like from directly entering into the
brake disk 120. The air inlet 114a formed at a lower right portion
of the cover plate 110a improves the cooling efficiency of the
brake disk 120 by reinforcing the airflow around the brake disk
120.
[0016] The guide part 110b is coupled to the cover plate 110a via a
coupling part that is formed at the rear and upper portions of the
air inlet 114a of the cover plate 110a. That is, the coupling part
is constituted by overlapping flanges (116a and 116b of FIG. 3)
formed at the cover plate and guide part, respectively. Once the
coupling part is formed at either or both of the rear and upper
sides of the air inlet, the guide part 110b may be coupled to the
cover plate 110a. The guide part 110b induces air that flows from
the front to the rear of the vehicle to smoothly be provided into
the air inlet 114a.
[0017] The upper end frame of the guide part 110b is protrusively
formed toward the front and inner side of the vehicle for maximally
supplying air into the air inlet 114a, in which air flows from the
front to the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle is in motion. An
impurity deflecting part 112b is formed at an upper portion of the
guide part 110b. The impurity deflecting part 112b protrudes out
into a space formed between the guide part and cover plate for
deflecting impurities to the inner periphery of the wheel, wherein
the impurities are entered through the guide part. An impurity
discharge part 114b having a downwardly opened groove configuration
is formed at a lower portion of the impurity deflecting part 112b.
The impurity deflecting part 112b and impurity discharge part 114b
facilitate the discharge of impurities that are entered between the
guide part and cover plate.
[0018] The upper end frame portion of the guide part 10b protrudes
out toward the front and the inner side of the vehicle thus
described. The upper portion of the air inlet 114a inclines
downwardly toward the central direction of the cover plate.
Accordingly, the air flowing from the front to the rear of the
vehicle when the vehicle is moving is captured at the upper end
frame portion of the guide part 110b and then smoothly flows into
the air inlet 114a of the cover plate 110a.
[0019] In case the impurities are entered along with air, the
impurity deflecting part 112b prevents the impurities from entering
into the brake disk 120 by deflecting the impurities. The impurity
deflecting part 112b includes a sloped surface 112c and is
protrusively formed in a circular form toward the exterior of the
vehicle, however, an ellipse or a polygonal form may be used
instead.
[0020] As illustrated in FIG. 7, impurities enter with air along
the moving route (i.e., arrow direction) are bumped and deflected
at the impurity deflecting part 112b. The deflected impurities by
the impurity deflecting part 112b do not enter the brake disk 120
due to the change of its moving route; instead the impurities are
mostly discharged through the impurity discharge part 114b after
being bumped at the inner periphery of the wheel. The impurity
discharge part 114b may be formed in an elliptical or a polygonal
shape.
[0021] Thus, the impurity discharge part 114b facilitates the
discharge of impurities entering between the guide part 110b and
cover plate 110a. In addition, the impurity discharge part 114b
induces the airflow via a lower arm installed at the rear of the
guide part 110b or the like, thereby improving the cooling
efficiency.
[0022] Typically, components adjacently installed to the brake disk
120 receive heat transmitted from the brake disk 120 and get
thermally damaged. Accordingly, the impurity discharge part 1114b
is formed at a lower part of the guide part 110b in the embodiment
of the present invention for providing air to the rear side
components through the impurity exhaust discharge 114b, when the
air flows from the front to the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, the
cooling efficiency of the rear side components of the guide part
also improve. Reference numeral 130 refers to the caliper,
reference numeral 131 refers to the knuckle arm, and reference
numeral 140 refers to the wheel.
[0023] As apparent from the foregoing, there is an advantage in the
present invention in that neighboring components of the brake disk
are prevented from being thermally damaged by insulating the brake
disk from heat radiation. There is another advantage in that
impurities such as pieces of stone, soil or the like are prevented
from entering into the brake disk, thereby preventing damage to the
brake disk. There is still another advantage in that a maximum
amount of airflow enters the brake disk, resulting in an
improvement of the cooling efficiency of the brake disk.
* * * * *